Kasilof Community News

Posted: Monday, October 29, 2007

By Brent Johnson262-4763, e-mail: ragweb@gci.net

There's a mess of gooseflesh in Kasilof this Halloween, but it has more to do with fortunes than urchins.

The Exxon Valdez lawsuit has been drifting through court like a ghost ship. On Friday, that lawsuit may have finally reached port. Currently, strong rumors have picked either last Friday or this Friday as the date the U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether to hear the appeal. By Nov. 5 news of that decision will splash all over the media like a tidal wave in a wide old cave.

Kasilof has a heap of web-slingers. Most of these commercial fishers have worn their wallets right down to the ghost as the price of fuel chaffs against the value of fish. Should the court decline Exxon's appeal, local businesses will be in tall cotton this Christmas. Actually, next summer; the payout is scheduled for June and will flood millions of dollars into our neighborhood. Pot watchers should expect surprises, however. Ground zero gossip puts Exxon in the driver's seat and the phantom court date a year away.

Superstitions should be held at bay. The Exxon Valdez did hit Bligh Reef just two days after a full moon. And yes, if the Supreme Court acted on the 26th it made its decision under a hunter moon. Scholarly research, however, has debunked any connection between moons and accidents or birth rates.

In Kasilof people watch the inlet. The highest tide of the year was Saturday's and measured 23 feet at Seldovia (Kasilof sourdoughs tend to read Seldovia tables).

A series of high water events happen with the full and new moons and are called spring tides. Larger than average spring tides occur during the moon's perigee and are referred to as perigean spring tides. The biggest tides always rise near equinoxes because the sun and moon align best at that season.

Chris Fallon won the Clarion football contest again. The chances of winning once are slim. Winning twice pretty much proves he has beachcombed a glass float and can see the future by gazing into the aqua sphere. Rumors are the Weather Service wants him for atmospheric predictions.

Trunk-or-treaters will meet at the Tustumena Elementary School parking lot from 6 to 8 p.m. on Halloween (Wednesday). Jim and Nancy Russell are heading up the event, which is may be more efficient than the traditional walking and knocking method.

Gabby Browning is recovering from her four-wheeler crash. Her jaw was broken in three places and is wired shut. She eats with a straw.

The Kasilof Historical Association will auction off framed, vintage photos, a massage and more at Tustumena School at 7 p.m. Nov. 16.

Borough Mayor John Williams was at Tustumena School on Oct. 22 to attend the Kasilof public hearing for choosing capital improvement projects. Chief of Staff Tim Navarre and Assistant Borough Clerk Johnie Blankenship also came. Assemblyman Paul Fischer chaired the meeting. Last year's choices were reselected. They are: a columbarium for Spruce Grove Memorial Park and improvements to the McLane Center Museum.